"We are thrilled to say that we are hard at work on a new Star Trek film that will be shooting by the end of the year that will be featuring our original cast and some new characters that I think are going to be really fun and exciting and help take Star Trek into areas that you’ve just never seen before," Abrams said. "We’re thrilled about this film, we have a bunch of other stories that we’re talking about that we think will be really exciting, so can’t wait for you to see what we’re cooking up. But until then, live long and prosper."
We'd already known that WandaVision director Matt Shakman was attached, though there has been some re-shuffling of the writing line-up, with Avatar 2's Josh Friedman and WandaVision's Cameron Squires taking over from Lindsey Beer and Geneva Robertson-Dworet. Reportedly, Paramount executives commissioned focus group reports on fan interest in the Pine crew returning, and discovered that, yes, people still wanted to watch them.
We've been here before, of course, with rumours of a time-travel scenario that would have seen Pine's Kirk meet his dad, George, played so memorably (and briefly) by Chris Hemsworth in Abrams' 2009 movie. Actor pay deals scuppered that on like a gravitic mine, but there's always the chance they could have figured it out.
And this also likely means that other potential films in development, including those from Quentin Tarantino and Fargo's Noah Hawley are likely headed to dry dock permanently, though Abrams' mention of "a bunch of other stories" might mean their ideas could eventually go ahead in some expanded universe.
No release date was given for the new movie, but that late 2022 shooting start points to a potential late 2023 arrival. We might see this film series boldly going forward once more.
Some of the best Star Trek games are adventure games like Star Trek: 25th Anniversary and Judgement Rites. For more than a decade, Star Trek Online has done an impressive job of bringing the storytelling style of the franchise to episodic online gaming. Did you look towards any of those past Star Trek games for ideas or inspiration in adapting the franchise in Resurgence, or were you more reliant on your own considerable experience?
DM: It's certainly important to know what else is out there. We did a lot of research before beginning development on Star Trek: Resurgence – it's a critical part of the process of making a good licensed game. You need to understand what makes a franchise special, so you don't just end up with something that superficially looks like the IP, but doesn't feel like it. But we also put a lot of stock in our experience making this very specific type of game, and knowing what it takes "under the hood" (or down in engineering, if you will) to craft a compelling interactive story. And ultimately, that experience has a greater impact on this game than something else that came before.
Kent Mudle, cinematic director: We did our research of course, but the kind of game we're making is based on the unique strengths of our team. We've made many story-focused games together, and have a lot of experience adapting different IPs into an interactive medium. We want to make a Star Trek game that only we can make.
Star Trek has told lots of different kinds of stories, from character-focused drama to save-the-galaxy space opera, to comedic bottle episodes, and that continues to evolve in this new streaming era. What storytelling style are you going for in Resurgence?
DM: Our goal from the outset was to deliver on a broad Star Trek experience – from the camaraderie and conflict among the crew to encounters with aliens to exploring mysteries to big action set-pieces with big stakes. The game is set shortly after the TNG era of shows and movies, so stylistically, that's our jumping-off point. But this game is not episodic – we're telling one epic story from start to finish, putting the player at the heart of a grand adventure, where they're the star of one of the feature films.
KM: We're essentially making a playable Star Trek film, one big story that unfolds with the player as the hero(s) of the narrative. Many different scenes and events will occur, but all in service of a larger central plot.
Well, they apparently picked the right guys for this game, since they name drop a lot of good TNG episodes in their "what episodes should you watch to prep for this game?" section, and they also admit that you could do a Trek game without Starfleet or a starship.
